Reduce optimisation time and effort: Taguchi experimental design methods

Development and validation of new methods and technologies frequently require long periods of time and high costs to determine the optimal system. A commonly used approach to optimisation is the factorial method, where each variable is tested at every level of the other variables. An alternative approach is to modify the experimental design using a multifactorial approach. The Taguchi design method utilises orthogonal arrays, which distribute the variables in a balanced manner, thus greatly reducing the number of experiments required. We applied the Taguchi experimental design method to PCR optimisation, and significantly reduced the number of reactions required to create highly successful reactions. We found the Taguchi design method a valuable tool for the optimisation of multifactor experiments.     

Haftung für Baumwurzeln im Kanal (Anm.: Franz Otto)

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

The consumer racial profiling experiences of Black students at historically Black colleges and universities: An exploratory study

This article examines consumer racial profiling among Black students at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Consumer Racial Profiling (CRP) is when store employees target a shopper or shoppers for discriminatory treatment based on their race or ethnicity. The research revealed that students have been exposed to a variety of CRP practices (e.g., being followed around, etc.). Even though they have been victims of CRP, many of the students did not report doing anything about it. Multivariate analyses were conducted to determine the most significant predictors of both having reported being a victim of CRP and also reporting the incident. The article concludes arguing that victims of CRP must report the incidents—if they are to be minimized, or in the best-case scenario, eliminated. In addition, the authors argue that criminologists should pay more attention to both CRP and the experiences and views of students at HBCUs.     

Haplotype diversity in human mitochondrial DNA hypervariable regions I–III in the city of Caracas (Venezuela)

In order to expand the database of variable DNA for forensic identification purposes in Venezuela, we analyzed the sequence polymorphisms of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) hypervariable regions (HVR) I–III from 100 unrelated individuals from the city of Caracas, using PCR amplification and fluorescent-based capillary electrophoresis sequencing method. Dominant haplogroups corresponded to Native Americans followed by African ones. The inclusion of HVR III although useful for sub-haplogroup assignation, added little to the discrimination capacity of our database.     

At Boiling Point: Like Water for Chocolate and the Boundaries of Mexican Identity

Abstract — This article explores the mechanisms of Mexican identity as they are constructed in Alfonso Arau's film Como agua para chocolate (1991) (Like Water for Chocolate). In re-designing the characters of Laura Esquivel's novel, Arau produces a range of filmic stereotypes drawn from both the Hollywood and the Mexican traditions of film-making. Through the careful manipulation of filmic devices such as editing, framing and close-ups, many of the features of Mexican otherness perpetuated by Hollywood throughout the twentieth century are inscribed. I apply the metaphor of boiling, derived from the film's title, to examine certain key concepts of cinematic 'mexicanness' including the tropes of 'revolution', 'border', 'race' and 'sex'. Crucial to this argument is a consideration of the contemporary political climate in which Like Water for Chocolate was both produced and released. In Mexico, it was released halfway through the sexenio (six-year period of rule) of President Carlos Salinas de Gortari's rule and is clearly one of the most succesful cultural products (and exports) of his government's now infamous rule. In the United States, the climate of anti-immigrant attitudes in 1992 and 1993 and the corresponding political tension provokes new readings of certain stereotypical images of Mexicans and mexicanness. It is the tension that is produced by the collision between these two contexts — cultural, political and ethnic — that forms the principal focus of discussion in this article.